Pilot valve controlled motor valve



April 1953 c. SEEFLUTH ETAL 2,635,631

PILOT VALVE CONTROLLED MOTOR VALVE Filed March 29, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l 7 l I I3 3 9 ATTORNEYS 4 April 21, 1953 Filed March 29, 1949 C. L. SEEFLUTH ET AL PILOT VALVE CONTROLLED MOTOR VALVE 2 SHEETSS!-IEET 2 FIG. 3

T. A BY I,

INVENTORS SEEFLUTH ST. CLAIR ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 21, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE PILOT VALVE CONTROLLEDMOTOR Charles L. Seefluth, Bartlesville, Okla and Theodore A. St. Clair, Pontiac, Mich., assignors to 1 Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporationof Delaware Application March 29, 1949, Serial No. 84,114

This inventionrelates'to pilot valve controlled mot-or'valv'es. In one "specific aspect it'relates to such valves when usedin the general combination shown in application SerialfNo. 7 844,673 flied November 5,1947, by Charles L. Seefluth, one of the present inventors, in which the pilot operated motor valve 15 is used to control the supply of liquid flowing through pipes 24 and 26 so that .a cylinder (not shown) placed on'platform scales 3 'Will receive an autom'aticariy controlled uniform amount of said liquid. In another specific aspect the invention relates to a pilot valve controlled -m'otor valve in which the pilot valve is easily operated by relatively small axial movements of a rod or other suitable engaging member.

In the art of valves there is considerable difliculty in getting a'valve which will inov'ethrough a relatively large distance to open wide and to tightly close a conduit containing liquid under considerable pressure, when the only control available forso operating the valvecomprises a member havin limited movement through a small distance. Such a problem exists'i'n a coin binations'hown in-the above mentioned. copending application, which application solves the problem to a large degree. The present application however provides an improved valve suitable for use in said combination and in all similar combmations where the present type of valv'e'is pa'rticularly well adapted for use. One difficulty with the valves of the prior art was caused by leakage of the liquid being controlled into the pilot valve system, rendering the same inoperative, and also leakage of said liquid to the atmosphere. One

of the preferred uses of the present valve is to control the flow of a volatile and inflammable liquid having a high vapor pressure, such as propane or butane, and it 'is obvious that care inus'tbe taken not 'to allowthis liquid to enter the pilot valve systemor to escape to the atmosfflfir. Ofle 'dbjfit 0f 'the 'p'r'e ilt iiiviltio'n iS to provide an im roved pilot operated motor V'IV.

, nnctner object is to provide a 'sinipleand positive position indicating means "for sai "valve.

:filOtTQYVEHV ill Wllichtiil beilflg 'cont'roned by "the valve the fluid operating the "pilot; 'il'al'li are p'ii ilteii "from contacting each other in apositiveinanner,

, inurnercus den er tweets and advantages will be app'arent'tc thbe sliill'd ihthe'a'ft upon reading "the acccnpanyane specincaucn, claims and H'IE'WifiS'. t

2 Claims. (01. 137-553) 2 In the drawings: Figure 1 is across sectional elevationalview of 'a valve embodying-the present invention "and is taken along the line l--I of Figure 2:1ooking in'the direction-indicated. Figure 2 is an elevational end view of the left side of the device shown in Figure 1-.

Figure 3 is a top view of the structure shown in Figures 1 and 2. r

In Figure 1, the body of the pilot controlled motor valve (generally designated as '4), which embodies the present invention, is preferably formed in three sections. The upper section "5,

also called the valve seat section because it contains valve seat 6, comprises a cylindrical body having a valve chamber 1 therein communicating with an inlet conduit 3 and an outlet conduit 9-. While conduit 8 is preferably the inlet and conduitil is preferably the outlet, especially'when handling liquified petroleum gases, such as *propane and/or butane, even with these liquified ases, and with many other fluids, it is possible to operate the valve and obtain results of value when 9 is the-inlet and 8 is the outlet. .Posi-' tioned iii-chamber 1 is a floating valve head .H

which preferably is provided with a relatively soft resilient gasket 1 2 secured thereto by screw 13 and the sleeve shown surrounding the screw. Upper body member 5 also contains a bore ['4 for the retention of indicating rod 16 in reciprocating relation thereto. Rod I6 is provided "with a cap H which is preferably made of a brightly. colored plastic material of a color contrasting withbody 5 in order that cap 11 may act as an indicator flag. In order that flag I! "may be visible and yet may be protected from contact with external objects or with dirt, we preferably cover the same with a translucent, but preferably transparent, dome l8 whichmay be made'of glass, but which preferably is made of clear Lucite (a methyl methacrylat-e resin or other suitable plastic) e The central portion 19 of body '4 is provided With-a central chamber 2| for the reception of a floating-piston 22. The piston '22 is provided with an upper reduced diameter valve operating portion 23 which is received and guided "by a reduced diameter portion 24 of chamber -2 A bore 2E5 formsa'continua tion ofbore M and indicating rod it reciprocates in said bore '26 and rests on the topsoi piston 22. Obviously, there 'fore,"the position-of flag'il indicates theposition of piston '22 "and/in turn indicates the position of "valve head ll Between central portion "19 and upper portion of body 4 there is disposed an impervious fiexible diaphragm 21. Operating portion 23 of piston 22 operates valve through flexible dia-, phragm 21.

The lower portion 28 of housing 4 is also called the control valve housing, or pilot valve housing. It contains a chamber 28 which is a continuation of chamber 2| but which is separated therefrom by a lower impervious flexible diaphragm 3| held in place between body members i9 and 28. The wall of the chamber 23 is provided with an upstanding central boss 32 which prevents diaphragm 3| from becoming completely forced into contact with the walls of the chamber 29 and thereby allows fiuid in chamber 29 to operate piston 22 rapidly and without fail.

It will be seen that impervious diaphragms 21 and 3| seal ofi chamber 2| from any fluids in chambers 1 and 29 respectively. Any" gas leaking through said diaphragms into chamber 2| will obviously pass up the space shown in the drawings between rod i3 and the walls of passage 23 and out the space shown between body sections 5 and 19 into. the atmosphere, so that chamber 2| is maintained at atmospheric pressure at all times, breathing through said spaces as diaphragm 3| rises and falls during operation of the device.

Lower body member 28 is also provided with a pilot valve chamber 33. Chamber 33 is provided with a supply of pressure fiuid, prefer-ably at a, relatively constant pressure, through inlet conduit 34 (containing screen 35 if desired for the removal of dirt). Conduit 34 is restricted in passing through orifice 36 which orifice also has a lip 31 acting as one of the two pilot valve seats. 7

Chamber 33 is provided with an exhaust passage 38 leading to the atmosphere at 39 and this exhaust passage has a valve seat 4| formed therein. Loosely guided and reciprocating in the exhaust passage 38 is a pilot valve operating rod 42. Rod or'stem 42 operates a valve head 43 which maybe provided with a relatively soft resilient washer 44 for contact with seat 31 and a similar washer 45 for contact with seat 4|. While in some instances some advantages are obtained by having rod 42 separate from head 43, in most instances it is preferred to have rod 42 screw into head 43 and at the same time retain washer 46 as shown.

In order to mount valve 4 on other objects a mounting base bracket 4'! may be provided which preferably is attached to the lower section 28 by means of screws 48. At the same time it is necessary to secure parts 5, l5 and 28 together and therefore it is preferable to have screws 43 also perform this function in the usual manner. Bracket 41 may be provided with holes 5i in order that it may be secured to other objects.

This completes a description of the valve. However, in order to show the environment further it may be stated that in one useful application of the valve brackets or stay bars 52 and 56 are secured to the beam of a scale such as beam 6 of application Serial No. 784,633 and moves with the change in weight on the scale platform 3 of said application. In the present application, bars 52 and 56 are secured to the scale beam (not shown) by any suitable means such as by friction when bolts 54 and 51 (see Figure 2) are tightened to clamp bars 52 and 55 to opposite sides of said scale beam. Vertical adjustment is provided by screw 58 threaded in bar 56 and locked into position by lock'nut 59.

Operation When the valve is in the open position as shown, screw 58 is supporting rod 42 which is in turn pressing valve head 43 against seat 31 and holding head 43 away from seat'4l. Therefore, pilot pressure fluid coming in inlet 34 is stopped at seat 31. Fluid in chambers 29 and 33 fiows out through seat 4| and passage 38 to the atmosphere at 39. The diiference in pressure between inlet 8 and outlet 9, if 8 is the inlet instead of the outlet, which may be aided somewhat by gravity, moves valve and piston 22 down into the position shown in Figure 1, valve and piston 22 carrying flexible diaphragms 21 and 3| along with them. If 5 is the inlet and 8 the outlet, then valve II should be heavy enough to operate in spite of the pressure difi'erencebetween 8 and 9. Because there are two impervious flexible diaphragms 21 and 3|, it is impossible for the liquid in 1 to reach chamber 33. At the same time gravity causes rod IE to follow piston 22 and lower flag I1. Valve H is in the open position and fluid flows from inlet 8 to outlet 9 (or if 9 is the inlet and 8 the outlet the liquid flows in the opposite direction). It is preferred to have 8 as the inlet and 9 as the outlet.

It will be noted that boss 32 is holding piston 22 and diaphragm 3| oil of the floor of chamber 28. Therefore if bar 52 moves down a very small distance so that head 46 seats on seat 4|, passage 38 will be closed and the pilot pressure fluid coming in inlet 34 passes through open valve seat 31 and chamber 33 up into chamber 29.

Chamber 29 is of considerably greater cross sectional area than chamber 1 so a smaller pressure on the fluid in 29 will operate against a larger pressure in chamber 1. The fluid from'34 enters chamber 29 pushing diaphragm 3!, piston 22, operator 23, diaphragm 21 and valve head up a much greater distance than head 43 moved so that head H secures seat 6 closing the valve and preventing fiow from conduit 8 to conduit 5 or vice versa. At the same time piston 22 has carried rod 42 upwardly so that contrasting colored flag I1 is visible in dome is. This is the closed position of the valve.

While we have described a particular embodiment of this valve for purposes of illustration it should be understood that the scope of, the invention is set forth in the following claims;

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. A motor valve comprising in combination a body having a first and second chamber therein and a passage therein smaller in cross-sectional area than either chamber connecting said chambers, said second chamber being of greater crosssectional area than said first chamber, said first chamber having an inlet and an outlet conduit connected thereto, a valve seat around one of said conduits and a valve movable in said first chamber to close said valve seat and. stop flow through said conduits thereby, a flexible impervious diaphragm of greater cross-sectional area than said first chamber dividing said' second chamber into a first and second section, means for supplying pressure fluid to said first section so that said diaphragm acts as a motor, a member movably disposed in said second section in contact with said diaphragm having a portion movable in said passage in operative engagement with said valve to move said valve to said seat, means sealing off said second chamber from fiow of fluid from said first chamber through said said second section, and a signal rod freely and loosely disposed in said second section freely riding on said member and disposed to move up into said dome free from restraint caused by any sliding fit when said member moves said valve to close said seat.

CHARLES L. SEEFLUTH. THEODORE A. ST. CLAIR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Maxim July 17, 1894 Number Number 1 Number Name Date Foster June 18, 1912 Johnson Sept. 8, 1914 K'erndl May 21, 1918 Fisher May 18, 1926 Wright N0v.:8, 1927 Crosthwait Aug. 9, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germ-any of 1884 France Mar. 8, 1937 

